Silk road project china

ISLAMABAD: After lengthy delays, an US$8.2 billion (£6.2 billion) revamp of a colonial-era rail line snaking from the Arabian Sea to the foothills of the Hindu Kush has become a test of Pakistan's ability to rethink signature Chinese "Silk Road" projects due to debt concerns.The rail megaproject linking the coastal metropolis of Karachi to the northwestern city of Peshawar is China's biggest Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project in Pakistan, but Islamabad has balked at the cost and financing terms.Resistance has stiffened under the new government of populist Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has voiced alarm about rising debt levels and says the country must wean itself off foreign loans."We are seeing how to develop a model so the government of Pakistan wouldn't have all the risk," Khusro Bakhtyar, minister in Pakistan's planning ministry, told reporters recently.The cooling of enthusiasm for China's investments mirrors the unease of incoming governments in Sri Lanka, Malaysia and … [Read more...] about Fearing debt trap, Pakistan rethinks Chinese ‘Silk Road’ projects

BEIJING - China's massive and expanding "Belt and Road" trade infrastructure project is running into speed bumps as some countries begin to grumble about being buried under Chinese debt. First announced in 2013 by President Xi Jinping, the initiative also known as the "new Silk Road" envisions the construction of railways, roads and ports across the globe, with Beijing providing billions of dollars in loans to many countries. Five years on, Xi has found himself defending his treasured idea as concerns grow that China is setting up debt traps in countries which may lack the means to pay back the Asian giant. "It is not a China club," Xi said in a speech on Monday to mark the project's anniversary, describing Belt and Road as an "open and inclusive" project. Xi said China's trade with Belt and Road countries had exceeded $5 trillion, with outward direct investment surpassing $60 billion. But some are starting to wonder if it is worth the cost. During a visit to Beijing in August, … [Read more...] about News
China’s ‘Silk Road’ project runs into debt jam

China's massive and expanding "Belt and Road" trade infrastructure project is running into speed bumps as some countries begin to grumble about being buried under Chinese debt. First announced in 2013 by President Xi Jinping, the initiative also known as the "new Silk Road" envisions the construction of railways, roads and ports across the globe, with Beijing providing billions of dollars in loans to many countries. Five years on, Xi has found himself defending his treasured idea as concerns grow that China is setting up debt traps in countries which may lack the means to pay back the Asian giant. "It is not a China club," Xi said in a speech on Monday to mark the project's anniversary, describing Belt and Road as an "open and inclusive" project. Xi said China's trade with Belt and Road countries had exceeded $5 trillion, with outward direct investment surpassing $60 billion. But some are starting to wonder if it is worth the cost. During a visit to Beijing in August, Malaysia's Prime … [Read more...] about China’s ‘Silk Road’ project runs into debt jam

They survive on a drip-feed of state subsidies and can suck the lifeblood out of a bloated workforce. Zombie companies live in the twilight world of China’s corporate jungle. With heartbeats that can barely be detected, most of them lurk in the shadows of the sprawling state-owned enterprise sector, which employs more than 20 million people, and is the largest in the world. Last year, a report compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD, showed there were 51,000 SOEs in China valued at US$29.2 trillion. To put that into perspective, at the end of 2017 the country’s corporate debt was 159% of gross domestic product. Tackling the problem has become a priority for Beijing, starting with the army of corporate zombies or companies which fail to generate enough revenue to repay their debts and are kept alive by state-backed funding. So far, nearly 1,200 SOEs have been shut down. “We [have] reduced a lot of ‘zombie … [Read more...] about Chinese ‘zombies’ feast on new Silk Road projects to ease layoff fears

Ice-Silk RoadArctic Finland, Norway OK next step for railway that would connect with China's Belt and Road project By Doug Tsuruoka Editor at Large March 10, 2018 4:31 PM (UTC+8) Share Tweet Linkedin Print Email Share 0 Comment 0 An ambitious plan to build a railway between Rovaniemi in Finland and Kirkenes in Norway that would serve as an Arctic gateway for China’s Belt and Road project has beaten other competing proposals and has been selected by Finnish and Norwegian transport officials for further study. The link is designed to connect northern Europe with China and Russia’s Arctic Ocean deep-water ports. Finland’s Ministry of Transport and Communications said on March 9 that the US$3.4 billion plan, drafted by a group of Finnish academics and business leaders, is the one that best addresses the country’s logistical, accessibility and supply-security issues. The proposal for a routing to the Arctic Ocean via Oulu, Rovaniemi and … [Read more...] about Plan for Scandinavian ‘Ice-Silk Road’ west moves ahead